, 1887-07-31

of the city police force. Lieuts. Schwatka,
Crawford and Van -, Correspondents
Strahorn, Finnerty and the New York
Herald man, Scouts Battesse, Clark,
GUARD and Reshaw and Capt. Jack.
Crawford, the poet scout They left at
shutdown and travelled all that night in a
heavy rain storm. At noon the following
day, while q majority OF the party were
feasting in a clump of wild plum trees,
GUARD and Battesse forged ahead, and
upon returning reported an Indian village,
containing eighty-fV lodges, two miles
away. Mills did not wish to attack the
h~ostiles, but was finally persuaded to do so,
as the men were hungry and 1t had been
ascertained that there was alarge quantity
of dried meat in the tepees 1t was fin
ally decided that early next morning
Schwatka, of Attic fame, with twenty-five
men, should capture the ponies near the
village, while Mills and Lieut.. Crawford,
afterwards killed in an Apache campaign,
charged upon the camp
The programme was carried out exactly
as planned. The horses were captured
and a number of Indians killed, while the
remainder fed into the surrounding bluffs
and %raVines. Ten packers and the re
porters entered the village and secured
5000 pounds of dried meat and a large
quantity of -four under a steady fire from
the Indians. Lieut.. Crawford vOlun-
teered to drive the savages from the
bluffs, and was engaged in a lively fight
when Crooks command arrived. 1t was
here that the brave German Lieut.. Van
- had his right leg shot off. Buffalo
Chips rode up to the men in the village
and asked if they had much fun?'
Nolan replied, You bet, a great deal
more than we wanted or want again."
The long-haired hero remarked that he
was sorry he had not reached there
sooner. May be there's a chance for
you vet" said Nolan, there's a few
Indians in a ravine over there. and Lieut..
Burke is getting ready to charge on
them" That Just suits me" shouted
the brave scout as he dashed toward the
party that was to dislodge the little band
of redskins from a deep ravine. Poor
fellow; he was the first man shot. A
rife ball passed through his body, killing
him instantly, and he was afterward
buried near where he fell. The chargers
were called off by Crooks orders, who did
not believe in sacrificing men unneces-
sarilY. Battesse, the half breed scout,
was sent to parley with the Indians. He
talked to them for fully ten minutes, ad-
vising them to surrender, but they stead
fastly refused. The half breed had APP
preached to within a few feet ofthe %ravine;
and suddenly leaping into the midst of
them, seized a squaw and carried her off
in a hail of bullets, the angered Indians
not seeming to care whether they killed
the woman or not. She was taken be-
fore Crook, and said there were thirteen
or fourteen Indians in the r%avine, and
that they had made breastworks of the
bodies of their dead companions and dug
rife pits with their hands. The savages
driven from the bluff, she said, had gone
to Red Clouds village, twelve miles away,
and would return in the evening to kill
the pale faces. Crook believed the squaw,
and told her to return to the Indians in
the ravine and tell them to surrender, and
that they would not be harmed. She did
So, and thirteen bucks laid down their
guns, marched out, and were bound and
gagged.
Red Clouds men arrived at shutdown
as announced by the squaw, focking
toward the soldiers like sheep. They
were defeated after a sharp engagement
of two hours. Next morning the troops
marched toward Deadwood with the Fifth
cavalry as rear guard, and they skirmished
with the Indians all day, when the latter
for some reason suddenly left.
On the third days march, after all the
dried meat and nearly GOO ponies had
been eaten, the Belle Fourche and a herd
of 500 cattle sent from Deadwood were
met, and the fifth day the troops received
double rations at a settlement called Cot
tonwood. The command finally reached
Deadwood, and after sending the captive
Indians to the Red Cloud agency, marched
to Fort Robinson.
Then followed McKenzie's campaign.
He fought Dull Knife at the head OF
Powder river, and defeated him with a
loss of three killed and eighteen wound
ed.
This fight ended the Indian war of
1876, and the following year the Chey-
ennes escaped from the Indian Territory
and were recaptured in the sand hills of
Northwestern Nebraska.
Crooks campaign in Wyoming and
Dakota has never received the place in
history to which it was entitled, beng
overshadowed by the terrible Custer
massacre. The expedition was composed
of brave and fearless men, who encoun-
tered many hardships, and did an enor-
nous amount of fighting under great dis
advantages. To Gen. Crook properly be-